Subtle Existence
by GraveDigger Resurrection
Summary: Sequel to 'New Ground.' All characters will be in this fic, along with some new ones. A messy combination of drama, romance, angst, and a violent string of murders that can't be stopped.


**TITLE: **Subtle Existence  
**RATING:** PG-13  
**PAIRINGS: **Griss/Sara, Cath/War, possible Nick/OFC, possible Brass/OFC (But no promises on either counts). Sofia should die alone, or shack up only with another weasel like her. :grins:  
**DISCLAIMER:** I don't own the deck, I just like to shuffle the cards!  
**SUMMARY:** Who thought life would get easier after New Ground? Yeah? Well...you were wrong.  
**A/N:** I'm off to Florida in 18 days, and planning has been a total bitch. Sorry for the horrifically long delay, and I hope someone around here is still remotely interested in the continuation of this story.

This one goes out to all of Locard's Advocates, who let me whine endlessly to them, until I got motivated enough to actually churn this out, and especially to Lauren, who's compliments really got me excited about writing again. Much thanks to you all!

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_tap tap tap_

_tap tap_

_taptaptaptaptaptaptaptap..._

"I swear to god, Gil, I'm going to break your hand if you keep that up."

Grissom shifted guiltily, and stopped tapping his pen against the armrest. "Sorry."

Looking at the still haggard man beside her, Catherine took pity, knowing the past weeks had been hell on his nerves. "Relax, Gil, we're just updating them on the situation, and it's just to confirm the transition. Atwater and Ecklie will talk to us in a minute, we'll brief them, and then be done." For now, they were simply waiting outside his office.

"Right." Grissom sighed, and rubbed a hand along his neck, shifting again. A glance down at his watch told him it was about an hour before his shift started. About an hour till Sara came back to work. God he wanted to see her. That sort of urge was something Grissom had dealt with before, yes, but the new intensity in his thoughts was more than unsettling.

If Catherine's knowing grin was anything to go by, she had a pretty good idea what had him so antsy. With an air of mocking nonchalance, she decided to finally breach the subject that had been running through all their minds for the past two weeks, "So, I take it you and Sara have worked things out?"

They both waited for a moment while he stopped choking on his tongue. "I, uhm, Catherine...we..." He trailed off at Catherine's chuckle.

When Grissom had been asleep in the emergency room, the group had grilled Sara mercilessly, trying to get information on what had happened between the two of them outside. No matter what they did though, all Sara would do was smirk a little, and tell them about her own injuries. Since then, Catherine, Warrick and Nick had been speculating endlessly on what had gone down, wondering where they stood with one another now. From the way Grissom was now panicking, Catherine had the gleeful suspicion that it was better than any of them had hoped. She let out a soft, but undeniably triumphant crow.

"Gil!" His squirm was almost more than she could handle. "So I guess you two did _more_ than make up outside the emergency room..." Catherine thought maybe a kiss at the most, but the red flush that crept up his neck made would have made her wonder, had it been anyone but Grissom. As his embarrassed silence continued, Catherine eyed him evilly for a long moment, weighing her options. Eventually, she decided the opportunity was too good to pass up, and put on her best 'uneasy' face, cackling maniacally on the inside. "Uh...Gil...you guys didn't do anything..._rash_ or...something...did you? I mean, I know you've gone to see her a few times since, and..."

His face showed honest confusion that was all too easy to take advantage of. "What do you mean?"

"Well, I mean, you didn't, uh...jump ahead of yourselves or...get into any compromising...sitiuations...?"

"_What?_" The flush spread to the very tips of his ears, and they seemed to glow in the office light, his blue eyes were wide and mortified. "Catherine, she was _injured_ for God's sake! I...we wouldn't...I've only visited her for a few minutes, and the emergency room...we were _sitting on a park bench! _" He glared at her as she collapsed into her chair, desperately stifling her laughter. "You are utterly unamusing."

"The look on your face!" She howled out between bouts of laughter, wiping at her eyes. After a moment, she managed to compose herself enough to say seriously, "Look, Gil, what goes on between you two is your business, until you start to act like an ass again and I have to fix whatever you screw up, ok?" This only gained her a look of vague disapproval, which she ignored, instead laying a hand on his arm. "Hey, until then, and even after then, I'm happy for you, Gil. You both deserve one another, and we'll all be glad to have Sara coming back to work." This time, she got a soft smile in return.

Before anything else could be said, the door opened, and the sheriff stepped outside, a displeased looking Ecklie by his side. "Gil, Catherine, come in."

As one, they rose and followed the pair back into the sheriff's office, taking their seats when he waved at them to get comfortable. Ecklie stood beside the Sheriff's seat with his arms crossed "So, folks, lets get ourselves up to date, shall we?" Atwater asked, leaning back easily. "The original plan was that Sidle would be returning tonight, correct?" His expression hinted at nothing but professional interest.

Grissom cleared his throat. "That's right, Sheriff. She's well enough to return tonight, according to her doctor, and I know she'll want to be back as soon as possible."

Atwater nodded, seeming satisfied. "So we can let Stokes go back to swing shift, then?" Nick had been covering Sara's position while she healed.

Catherine and Grissom nodded, Catherine speaking first. "Right, Sheriff, Nick returned to Swing this shift, actually."

Ecklie let out a little snort, speaking for the first time. "Deciding things on your own, as usual, Catherine?"

Catherine only gave him a game smile in return. "Just trying to have a little initiative in seeing what would be best for the lab, Conrad. I didn't think that would be a problem?" She let her voice trail off with the barest hint of a challenge.

The sheriff spoke before Ecklie could think up a response, waving his hand in a casual manner. "Not at all, Catherine. Thanks for being on top of things." From his position behind Atwater, Ecklie's expression soured. "Onto other business, though, I know Sanders was expected to be out for at least another week, so I assume you'll still need Palmer?" Anthony Palmer was the Swing member sent to cover Greg's position while he was out.

Grissom and Catherine shared a brief glance, before Grissom spoke. "I do, sheriff, at least until I know what sort of work load Sara is going to be capable of taking."

Again, Ecklie jumped at the , with the hint of a smirk playing on his ugly face. "Of course, got to make sure she doesn't _over work_ herself." The other two supervisors took a second to grudgingly admire the Weasel's ability to be so snide and condescending, yet professional at the same time.

The sheriff, beautifully oblivious to Ecklie's meaning, nodded authoritatively in agreement. "Yes, do that, Grissom. I don't want her overworking herself, as Conrad said." He leaned back a little in his seat. "And in case I don't get a chance to speak with her, tell her I said 'welcome back.' Graveyard's solve rate has dropped a little lately, and it will be good to have her back to get the numbers back up." Catherine smiled dutifully, but Grissom only blinked, opened his mouth, and once again proved how bad he was at politics.

"Actually, Sheriff, I believe if you look again, you'll find that since Night Shift was split up, our solve rate has gone down almost nine percent, and no other shift has topped the success we had with the old team." Grissom's expression remained mild, but his arched brow spelled trouble, and Catherine fought the urge to smack him.

Atwater looked at Grissom for a long moment, before clearing his throat, and studiously not looking at Ecklie. "Well...at any rate, the lab is most definitely grateful to get her back." He tugged on his tie, seemingly lost in thought.

Ecklie, perhaps sensing that the Sheriff's thoughts were not conducive to his own underhanded schemes, hastily stepped in. "Well, I think that about covers it, right?" Grissom gave him a small smile, cocking his head slightly in the smallest of mocking movements. Again, Catherine fought against the images invading her mind, in which she did bodily harm to the Entomologist sitting next to her.

Rubbing the back of his neck, Atwater pulled himself back to them, and nodded. "Yes, I think that's everything. Don't hesitate to get in touch if we need to shift things around again." Meeting over.

Grissom and Catherine nodded and rose, shaking hands with the sheriff politely and ignoring Ecklie. As they were on their way out the door, Atwater called out, "Hey, Gil?"

"Yes, Sheriff?"

Atwater cleared his throat before continuing. "Have you visited Sanders?"

Grissom nodded. "The entire team–" he broke off sharply, and Catherine felt a small pang go through her at his faux pas. "That is, Nick, Warrick, Catherine, Sara and myself have been checking on him frequently"

"How is he?"

Grissom ducked his head in a little shrug. "He's healing. I believe he's being discharged today." Catherine nodded in confirmation.

Atwater nodded faintly, smiling a little, with a surprisingly huma expression on his face. "Good, good. Well, I'm sure I'll speak to you again soon, then Gil. Have a good night, both of you."

With nods, the two friends eagerly left the room, not speaking until they were near Grissom's office. Once the door was safely shut behind them, Catherine pinned him with her glare. "You. Are. A. _Moron_. Did you know that?"

On his part, Grissom managed to look supremely unruffled, settling into his seat comfortably. "I've been told the same a time or two, yeah."

Catherine huffed, rolled her eyes, and flounced into the seat across from him. "That solve rate comment, Gil, it's...it's not the best thing to be saying at this point. I mean, if you want _fired_, maybe, but otherwise..."

"It's only the truth Catherine," he replied, as though it were the most obvious thing in the world. Catherine made an incredulous face at him, and opened her mouth to reply, but was cut off when the door opened, and Nick and Warrick stepped in, smiles on their faces.

"Yo boss!" Nick said with a nod at Grissom. Then, as was becoming custom for him, he winced, and smiled meekly at Catherine. "And, uh...better boss."

Warrick punched his arm with a smirk. "Nice, Bro. Real smooth." Nick shot him a look, and then both wandered amiably into the room, shutting the door behind them.

"You two finish up your B and E?" Catherine asked, amused with how squirmy Grissom got with them all being in his office.

Nick and Warrick groaned in unison. "It _wasn't_ a B and E. The son accidentally busted a window with his football, didn't tell his parents, and when they came home, they freaked and...well, the rest is history," Warrick answered her with a sigh, slumping into the seat next to her.

"And you wonder why I never let you throw one around during shift?" Grissom returned, with his brow arched in amusement.

Nick, who was sprawled on the leather couch, let out a mutter. "Whatever, _Dad._"

Grissom looked over at him. "Pardon?"

Nick shrugged innocently. "I said, 'yeah, it's bad.'" Warrick snorted, and Catherine grinned.

Grissom looked around at all of them briefly. "Remind me again why you're here?"

It's the new schedule, Griss, didn't you get the memo? We don't have an entire shift to bother you, so we're cramming it all where we can get it now," Warrick shot back, flippantly.

Grissom sighed lightly. "I knew there was a reason I don't read memos"

A brief, comfortable silence settled over them, each quietly relishing in this rare moment. The four of them hadn't been in the same room together since they left the emergency room two weeks ago. Since then, however, a subtle sort of change had taken place. Their team was more unified now than they had been for some time, even with the shift change.

"Well, I guess we'd better go wrap things up, so we can get outta here and bust Greg out of the hospital," Warrick said finally.

Nick nodded, pulling himself to his feet, with Warrick. "You coming with us, Cath?"

Catherine stood up as well, shaking her head. "Can't. Lindsey and I are going shopping. In fact, I need to go ahead and get my stuff together and all three of us can skip out early, as long as we don't let the boss know." She grinned at them as they chuckled, before turning back to Grissom. "Welcome Sara back for us, ok, Gil?"

He nodded with a slight smile. "Sure."

Nick clapped his hands together. "Thank God she's coming back. Between Greg whining about the hospital and Sara whining about house arrest, today is my favorite day this week. Man, those two have just about bitched my _ear_ off!"

Chuckling, Warrick nudged Nick in the ribs as he passed, opening the door, and throwing a "Later Griss," at Grissom as he went out into the hall.

Catherine waved, and left as well, Nick following after her. Content, and counting down the 32 minutes until Sara's arrival, Grissom bent his head over a new forensics journal, reading intently. "Hey, Grissom?" He looked up to find Nick standing along in the doorway, looking just slightly awkward.

"What is it, Nicky?"

The Texan grinned a little, and looked at the floor. "I just thought I ought to say...I...it's been good working for you again these two weeks. It was...nice, yah know?"

Grissom smiled, a little sadly, still feeling that that was the way it _should_ be. "Yeah, Nick. It was...nice."

Nick shrugged a goodbye, and made to walk away, but halting suddenly and turning back. "You're a good supervisor, Grissom. A good boss." His expression was suddenly somber. "You...you're the one who made the six of us a family, Grissom, and some stupid shift change wont change that." With that, he gave a short nod, and disappeared down the hallway, leaving Grissom with a surprised, but sincere smile on his face.

_26 minutes until Sara comes..._

The grinned widened, and he went back to his article.

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So...first chapter, sort of slow, I guess, but I'm still hashing out how to spread out into the character's separate stories. It DOES get interesting...no really, I swear! So, feedback would be loved and adored, and I'll update fairly soon, I'm hoping. Thanks for Reading! 


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